South China Sea Dispute-ASEAN Unity Threat

South China Sea Dispute-ASEAN Unity Threat

Executive Summary: A PREVIEW ORDER YOUR PAPER NOW

Since the foundation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) fifty years ago, there has been greater integration among the member states. The continued cooperation among the member countries have helped to overcome several regional crisis and problems in unison. According to (SathirathaI, 2015) the agreements were arrived amicably and also disagreements did not cause enmity among the members. The earlier founders of ASEAN embraced the culture of solving things in an informal atmosphere that was characterized by friendship, and sense of hope and optimism. However, this a different story today. The members to the association have turned things formal and it is very difficult to agree on the single issue facing the region. Besides, the members appear to be linked to their individual nationalism more than the achievement of the regional peace. For example, it has become very hard for the diplomats from the member countries to agree on the way forward on the South China Sea dispute. This paper refers to this crisis to formulate advice to the ASEAN member states on how to deal with the South China Sea dispute.

This report finds that serious arising from the South China Sea dispute have threaten the unity and cooperation of the ASEAN in the region. For example, the regional insecurity and arm race competition has become intense. China has engaged in the deployment of the military in the disputed territory. Besides, the Chinese neighbors’ who claim the ownership right of the sea have continued to increase their military budget. The approaches by the different ASEAN member states threatens the security of the region. This report recommends that cooperation and development will help to overcome the increased regional insecurity and arms race competition being perpetuated by the individual ASEAN member states.

The report also finds that the South China Sea dispute has caused threat to the environment, civilians and economic activities. In the efforts to secure the territory, the claimants of the territory for example, China has established an artificial island in the sea. With the combination of the military tools in the sea the natural environment is being threatened. Additionally, the ASEAN member states have encouraged their fishermen to carry out their fishing activities consistently in order to prove the individual state ownership over the territory. Moreover, the economic interests by the individual member states on the sea has become a major stumbling block to end the dispute. To solve this dispute this report advocates for comprehensive consultations ad redefined consensus in arriving at the association decision. However, this may not work effectively for the South China Sea dispute and therefore, this paper calls establishment of the code of conduct whereby the majority decision will be abiding to all ASIEN member states: END OF PREVIEW ORDER YOUR PAPER NOW

Sources

Albek, A., 2015. The Asean Political-Security Community: Enhancing Defense Cooperation , California: Naval Postgraduate SchooL .

Limaye, S., 2015. The Impact of South China Sea (SCS) Tensions on ASEAN: An “Eye-of-the-Beholder” Dilemma. [Online]
Available at: http://www.theasanforum.org/the-impact-of-south-china-sea-scs-tensions-on-asean-an-eye-of-the-beholder-dilemma/ [Accessed 20 Septemeber 2017].

Mirski, S., 2015. The South China Sea Dispute: A Brief History. [Online]
Available at: https://www.lawfareblog.com/south-china-sea-dispute-brief-history [Accessed 20 September 2017].

Nguyen, A., 2015. The Origins of the South China Sea Dispute. In: Territorial Disputes in the South China Sea. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 15-35.